2. Prioritizing Goaltending and Defensemen
One of the Devils' biggest issues after last season was obviously goaltending. This need was met by trading for former Calgary Flames netminder Jacob Markstrom. The 34-year-old, former Vezina finalist was brought to Newark for a 2025 first-round pick (top-10 protected) and defenseman Kevin Bahl.
Though, the Devils did not make it easy on their list of goaltenders last season either, which has made defense the new priority this offseason. Instead of utilizing the 10th overall pick in a trade, the Devils decided to add to their defensive prospect list with the selection of Russian Anton Silayev.
Additionally, the Devils also traded defenseman John Marino and a fifth-round pick to the Utah Hockey Club to move up to the 49th overall pick in the most recent draft and received a 2025 second-round pick. This gives the Devils three second-round picks in 2025 (barring Jake Allen playing 40+ games) to play with at the NHL Trade Deadline.
Another trade sent Alexander Holtz and Akira Schmid to the Vegas Golden Knights for Paul Cotter and a third-round pick in 2025. All of these moves left the Devils with nearly $20 million in available space and much bigger free agency names available than initially expected—a huge reason why they were able to land Brett Pesce.